I’ve spend a fair amount of time thinking about spiritual formation – perhaps not too surprising since I’ve written a book on it (Stirrers and Saints) and have spent most of my life as a pastor or trainer of pastors. Naturally I always point people back to the tried and trusted resources of scripture, prayer, confession, worship, study, service, church involvement and the like. More recently I have been paying attention to what fosters deep inner growth – not simply the change of a few obviously unhelpful behaviours, but a genuine shift in posture to God, others, self and the world.
Now to be clear such shifts are not achieved by 3, 4 or even 44 easy steps. Nor are they achieved by purely cerebral means – by learning more or knowing a few more things. At some point significant inner work is needed – the willingness to look deep within and pose challenging questions and contemplate other ways of interacting and being. The process doesn’t need to be brutal – and indeed, is more likely to be fruitful if conducted in a way that is kind, understanding but curious, and always hopeful that we can find a more Christlike way of being.
Are there any practices to help us in this? There are – and I like to think of practices in the plural, for different options can enrich our journey. This is not a quest with a fixed end point, but simply one in which we are invited “further up and further in” to cite the famous C.S.Lewis invitation.
Here is one simple practice… The practice of OWN.
While some acronyms are simply annoying – an obviously artificial effort to be a little too clever, I rather like the OWN one, which provides the counsel that to manage change and to live deeply into our current season of life, we should OWN our experiences, observing them, welcoming them, and naming them.
Let’s think about this a little more…
People have different attitudes to change. Some welcome change, seeing it as an opportunity for something fresh which allows a departure from tired old practices that no longer connect or mean much. But for many change is viewed with deep suspicion. Many have been the victims of over-promising, where they have been assured that some new arrangement will bring extraordinary benefits, only to discover that the reality was very different. Cynicism, scepticism and sometimes outright fear, becomes the default reaction to the offer of change. OWN isn’t so much about changing, but knowing where you are starting from, which seems to me to be an important pre-requisite for significant growth. It is also about intentionally building a pause into life – taking time to observe, welcome and name.
It starts with observation. What is going on in your life? Note the range of your emotions. Are you irritable, bored, enthused, stretched, anxious? Often we are awash in the simple blur of being. We carry on with our busy life, snapping at this person, smiling at another, laughing out loud and then trembling inwardly at a minor threat. We swing between being over stretched to becoming quickly bored. What we don’t often do is pause long enough to notice the range of what is going on. When we do we will find much to intrigue us – but without the intentional pause to observe and reflect, it will be missed. As you observe, what surprises you? Pleases you? Disappoints you? Puzzles you? Simply spot it, and note it down.
In stage two we welcome what we observe. By welcome I don’t mean that everything is as it should be but that truth is a friend and without it there is not a path forward. Jesus says that he is the truth (Jn 14:6). It’s an interesting claim – a strong reminder that the most profound truths are relational – for truth is tied up with the person of Jesus. When we welcome what we observe we don’t dismiss it or rationalise it away. We observe it with curiosity, and ask what we can learn from it. Perhaps we notice our irritability. It could be that we have the pacing of our life wrong, allowing too many little things to become too much. If we welcome the insight we might then have the wisdom to ask, “What will it take to get the pacing of my life right? Why do I default to taking so many things on?” Or perhaps we were struck by a prevailing sense of boredom. Welcome it by digging into it. Have you perhaps not had the courage to take on something stretching? Is that because you are a little too fearful of failure? What would it mean to trust your reputation to God? And so we question on, probing deeper and deeper to gain clarity, unti we are able to say, “This is where I am now. Let me pause, note where I am, and ask if it is where I should be. If so, celebrate it. If not, ask for eyes that are open to possible new options – for if they are God initiated, they are not to be feared, only embraced.
The third step is naming. Names in the Bible are filled with meaning. They highlight a central truth about a person or a place. Bethlehem for example means “House of Bread” – pretty significant given that it is the birthplace of the One we call the Bread of Life. Names can also give direction – a sense of what needs to be focused on now. To help you can run through a few options. What season are you in? I see myself as being in Autumn – a truly beautiful season. True, it doesn’t have the energy or promise of Spring and Summer, but Autumn clours are stunning, and they draw on all that has gone before. Autumn is the time of shedding leaves. They are left for the benefit of others, and their accumulation can be truly magnificent. Or perhaps you want to name a pervasive emotion. It might be a season of hope, or loss, or new beginnings or… well give it a name – look at it, see if it fits, and if it does, welcome and embrace it (for observing, welcoming and naming are not strictly linear, but interact creatively.)
Knowing the name to give to our current chapter can help us to live fully into all it offers. Strangely, even if we are in a season of loss and grief, simply naming it can help us to lean into all we should draw from the time. Behind it is the Ecc 3 principle – that there is a time and a season for everything.
What has this to do with spiritual growth and transformation? It is about seeing the significance of all of life. It is about noting what God is doing. It about building a pause into life – for in that pause, much change might be birthed.
Nice chatting…
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Hi Brian , thanks for those reflections. You have taken it much deeper than when we first spoke about OWN last week. Very helpful.
It’s been on my mind since we spoke about it. I’ve found it a very helpful practice. Thanks for introducing me to it Col.